Is it a former drug addict talking about God’s mercy and salvation to street people?

Is it a married couple promoting the Christian message in high schools?

Many of us were raised with the first image. Missionaries were priests and religious sisters travelling to foreign lands to share the gospel message and take care of the poor and the sick.

In fact, as Christians, we are all called to share the message of Jesus’ love, mercy and salvation with everyone we meet.

Jesus commanded all believers to, “Go and preach the good news to the ends of the earth”.

My husband and I have had the privilege of serving on a mission team to Slovakia and Romania six times in the past 12 years. The team is led by a missionary couple from Florida, who also travel to Tanzania and Asia, leading retreats and missions where they are called.

The group is affiliated with Renewal Ministries, an organization based in Michigan which has sent lay missionaries to 30-plus countries for the past 40 years.

Our team leader, Tom, is a country co-ordinator for Slovakia. Our role at events is to give testimonies about how God has worked in our lives, sometimes to give talks and to pray with people attending these events.

The experience is life-changing.

We meet people whose love for Jesus is palpable, but they are discouraged and need lifting up.

We ministered one year to a large group of gypsies, hungry to learn and be loved by Jesus. It was one of the most memorable nights in my life. This past year, a number of schools opened up to us to share the pro-life message about life before birth.

The students were fascinated by the fetal models, and so we could bring God’s love and creation into the conversation.

Our driver, translator and good friend Bohdan is a former drug addict who had a life-changing experience of God. Now a father of four young children, he and his wife run many ministries in their faith community in Presov.

They agreed a few years ago Bohdan would be a full-time missionary. He travels with Tom to Tanzania, but also to Hungary, Croatia and the Czech Republic, leading retreats, training sessions and working with street people.

Does that require sacrifices? You bet. They are criticized even in their faith community for not “working,” and just “travelling.” They live simply, trusting in God’s providence.

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As wonderful as these opportunities have been for Ron and I, I believe our most important mission field is in our backyard.

We all have family members, friends and neighbours who are not practising their faith; many not even believing in God anymore. We see high rates of suicides, addictions, loneliness, broken marriages— so much pain and emptiness.

How do we share the message of God’s love, mercy and healing to those who desperately need to hear it?

We have all had difficult moments in our lives, filled with anger, sadness, despair, grief. Sharing our life experiences, and how God helped us, can make a difference in their lives. God isn’t looking for perfect people to be his voice to others. He just asks that we open our hearts to him a little more each day.

It’s hard for people to gloss over a witness of faith in our lives. If they see us responding to others with compassion and respect, they feel safe sharing their stories with us. They notice how our faith shapes the way we spend our time, the decisions we make, the way we speak. All these little things point people to the God we worship.

Often, these actions lead to opportunities to talk about God in our lives.

To me one of the most important gifts to pray for is joy! People can see joy in us and they want what we have. It opens doors to simple conversations.

We all need to start talking to people we don’t know— people in stores and beauty parlours, TV repairmen and our neighbours. If we never talk to anyone new, how will we have an opportunity to share the gospel message?

It is mainly through simple, everyday conversations that we will find openings to talk about God and what he has done in our lives.

If someone looks sad, we can lend an ear and pray with them on the spot. We can celebrate with them when something good happens and say, “How great is our God!” or “What a great blessing from God!”

We can pray that each day God will put someone in our path for us to talk to— and then be open when that person shares. We can invite people to join us at mass, or at a Christmas concert, or on an Alpha course, a bible study, a Life in the Spirit program, an hour of praise and worship music.

Are you still looking for a New Year’s resolution?

Share the good news when the opportunity arises. There is no need for perfection.